


Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

by RandomReader13



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bad Parent David Cain, Blood and Gore, David Cain is a baaaad dude, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, No editing we die like mne, Protective Jason Todd, Torture, Tumblr Prompt, Violence, batman bingo 2020, written in one go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:00:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23315029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomReader13/pseuds/RandomReader13
Summary: Tumblr prompt: Hey Jason fucking murders David Cain please. I wish to see it.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 169





	Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

Jason hadn’t moved more than an eyelid in hours. He hadn’t moved more than a few feet in days. He lay still, inside a bush that was more thorn than leaf, and he waited, eye pressed to the scope of his sniper rifle. He was hungry, his muscles ached from laying on the hard ground, and his joints grew stiff, despite the quiet stretches he did twice a day when the cacophony of birds waking up and the screaming of cicadas as the sun sunk in the west covered any noises he might make. Still he waited.

Jason hadn’t planned on doing this. In fact, he had planned on the exact opposite: flashing blades and explosions and actions that would have gotten him lectured for hours as Robin for being too reckless. But David Cain was one of the best, and Jason’s muscles still ached in remembrance of the brief time he had spent training with the man. He had to do this right, or he would die. Again.

He had tracked the man down, had paid several local townspeople handsomely to establish contact with information he supplied. Cain would be suspicious, of course he would, he’d be an idiot not to, but the number Jason has told the townspeople to offer as a reward would make anyone weigh the risks. The best of the best were confident, and for good reason, but sometimes that confidence slipped into arrogance. And then they die. Jason had been camped on this ridge above the meeting site, just within his sniper rifle’s range, for almost a week because Cain would be scoping out the area and Jason had to be there first so any disturbances he might create while setting up would be accepted as part of the landscape. He couldn’t move far, even to relieve himself, and he was pretty sure that he had at least three different species of insect currently crawling on him. Whatever. He had tolerated worse and it was paying off. Cain had done a thorough scout of the surrounding area, but the ridge was far enough away that it escaped even his attention, other than a brief, squinting glance that made Jason tamp down on the childish desire to duck, an action which would have definitely given him away.

The chosen spokesperson -- he may have had to bribe at least five people but only one of them was willing to risk their skins- actually, he looked too young, he was probably one of the homeless children that seemed to abound even in small villages. Jason scowled. Maybe he’d go have a chat with the village people about the proper way to treat children after he killed Cain. Fortunately for the kid, he was standing far enough away from Cain that he should be fine, even once Jason started firing. He just needed Cain to take one step forward...there.

Jason breathed and slowly cocked the rifle, adjusting his aim. He’d have to wait for the perfect moment if he wanted to get those first, vital shots in. He needed to take out both legs in the first few seconds, at the very least. Otherwise, Cain would bolt.

The boy held out a thick folder, filled with information on one of Jason’s future targets. Realism was essential here, Cain would rabbit at the slightest hint of a trap.

Cain took the folder and flipped it open.

Bullet to the knee and a second to the hip, fired mere milliseconds after each other. Jason grinned sharply as his calculations on the way Cain would stagger -- not fall, never fall with these guys, not with only one bullet -- paid off. The man went down and Jason blessed his higher elevation as he planted one in Cain’s shoulder, right where the scar that Cass picked at when she was nervous sat. She had picked it raw after Cain had appeared two weeks ago, sitting in the medbay of the Cave and then the family room, a vacant look in her eye.

A bullet to the ankle, the same one that on Cass had been broken at least three times from the Xrays Jason had seen.

Bullet to the elbow -- he had been aiming for Cain’s side, where Cass now had a small gouge that would never grow back completely, no matter how good Alfred and Leslie were, but the shot had the benefit of taking out Cain’s other arm, reducing the man to scrabbling on the ground rather like a turtle. Or like how Cass had struggled to get up from under his foot, after he broke her leg and pinned her down.

Jason stood up, brushing a caterpillar from his hair and carefully placing the rifle on his bedroll. He headed down the mountain until he reached the path. Blood was seeping steadily into the ground, staining it a rich red, and the kid was long gone. Cain struggled to stand when Jason came into view, but Jason flicked one hand and embedded a throwing knife into his foot, where he had seen burn scars on Cass’ foot when they were having a pool day.

“ _You_ ,” Cain snarled.

“Me,” Jason said cheerfully.

“I trained you, you ungrateful little-”

“You did, and I’m very grateful.” Jason kicked the man onto his back and crouched down, casually crushing the hand Cain was trying to reach his belt with under one steel-toed boot. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to pull off that sniping. I’d say I get an A+, what do you think?” He pulled his kris from his belt and sunk it into Cain’s groin, dragging downward sharply and smiling at the pained gasp the man couldn’t keep back. He hadn’t been in Gotham yet when Cass had first arrived, hadn’t rejoined the family until way later, but they had been undercover for a mission together for three weeks -- thankfully still as siblings -- and he had been making a grocery list and asked if she needed supplies. “Cain...fixed,” she had said, grimacing and shaking her head like she did when she knew she had used the wrong word but didn’t know what other one to use.

Jason might have taken longer than usual getting the groceries that evening.

He paused to survey his work. “Someone should have done that a long time ago,” he said, jerking his knife out. “No one should have to have you as a father.”

The first cicada of the evening began sawing away, and Jason glanced up at the darkening sky. “On top of being a worthless rat bastard you’re inconsiderate of my time,” he said. “And the time of that kid. He was waiting there for hours. An earwig tried to climb into my literal ear. I thought that was a myth.” Cain snarled, but it was weak. With the amount of blood drenching Jason’s boots, it was no surprise.

“Anyway,” Jason said. “I’d love to keep you longer, but I have places to be.” Namely, Gotham before the bats did something ridiculous like send Superman to try and find him. It had happened before. He had extracted a promise to wait at least a week -- as long as he was sending coded messages every now and then-- after hours of grueling debate, but that time was rapidly drawing to a close and he hadn’t been able to send a message yet today. He had camped out in the bush even earlier than usual because he knew Cain would be making final rounds before the meeting.

“You will- regret this-” Cain hissed. “I will make you-”

“Nah, you won’t.” Jason slashed the man’s throat in one sharp movement, lifting his hand just slow enough that Cain’s eyes widened in realization. He stood up, wiping his knife off on his own pants because there wasn’t much left of Cain that wasn’t already covered and blood had splashed on them anyway.

Jason headed back to pack up his campsite, whistling cheerfully along the way. Normally he would make it clear who killed Cain, as a warning to the rest of the underworld, but not this time. Cass had whispered to him not to follow, when he first rolled to a stop on that rooftop and saw her bleeding and broken body and immediately turned to hunt Cain down. She would blame herself, and Jason didn’t want to put that on her conscience. No, let him rot on a mountain path, eaten by scavengers and mourned by no one. It was less than he deserved.

Oh, it would come out eventually, and the bats would probably shoot Jason suspicious looks, but he didn’t care. Let them rail and lecture and level sad eyes at him until they were blue in the face. Cass was safe, and that was all that mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to see more of these shorter pieces (which I don't usually post on here), or want to submit a prompt from one of my two bingo cards, head over to [my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/theawkwardvirgin)


End file.
